Father Lawrence M. Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest who spent 19 months as a captive of extremists in Lebanon, told a group of veterans and former prisoners of war in Long Beach on Tuesday that he vowed never to forget those who remained behind. "I made a covenant with Terry Anderson that he (and the others) wouldn't be forgotten," Jenco, speaking softly, told the crowd of more than 200 gathered in the chapel of the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Father Lawrence M. Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest who spent 19 months as a captive of extremists in Lebanon, told a group of veterans and former prisoners of war in Long Beach on Tuesday that he vowed never to forget those who remained behind. "I made a covenant with Terry Anderson that he (and the others) wouldn't be forgotten," Jenco, speaking softly, told the crowd of more than 200 gathered in the chapel of the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American who was held hostage in Lebanon for 19 months, came to Orange County on Friday to pray for those still held hostage. Jenco told an interdenominational service, conducted in the Crystal Cathedral, that the focus should be on prayers for peace and for forgiveness of the hostage-takers. "During our days in captivity, we five prayed daily for peace in Lebanon, the Middle East, in our own hearts and in the hearts of our captors," Jenco said.

Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American who was held hostage in Lebanon for 19 months, came to Orange County on Friday to pray for those still held hostage. Jenco told an interdenominational service, conducted in the Crystal Cathedral, that the focus should be on prayers for peace and for forgiveness of the hostage-takers. "During our days in captivity, we five prayed daily for peace in Lebanon, the Middle East, in our own hearts and in the hearts of our captors," Jenco said.

Former hostages and relatives and friends of hostages still in Beirut reacted Monday with numbed anger to the fact that the Bush Administration, like its two predecessors, seems trapped in a hopeless dilemma: Inaction consigns hostages to continued imprisonment, while action dooms them. A number of them also blamed Israel for precipitating the current crisis. A pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim faction said Monday that it had executed Marine Lt. Col. William R.

Lawrence Martin Jenco, a former hostage in Lebanon, wrote a letter to a cherished friend last week that he knows will not be delivered. It was written to Terry A. Anderson to observe an ugly anniversary. Two years ago today, Anderson, Associated Press Middle East chief correspondent, was kidnaped by armed men who pushed him into a green Mercedes-Benz that disappeared down a Beirut street.

Father Lawrence M. Jenco said he believes that the Lebanese Shia Muslims who held him hostage for 19 months want to release the three remaining American hostages, but first "they would like to get some benefits from this whole thing." In his first interview since being freed July 26, Jenco also said he fears that tough rhetoric from Administration officials might block progress toward the release of the Americans.

The Syrian foreign minister today denied that CIA Director William J. Casey visited Damascus to seek the release of Americans held hostage in Lebanon. "We are utterly astonished that such completely unfounded reports are published," Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh said. "Whatever the purpose of launching such false news is, the Syrian government categorically denies that Mr. Casey has visited Damascus at any time at all," the foreign minister said. Meanwhile today, U.S.

The sister of a correspondent held by Muslim extremists in Lebanon arrived in Damascus on Sunday to seek Syrian help in freeing him and four other American hostages. Peggy Say, 45, of Batavia, N.Y., the sister of hostage Terry A. Anderson, arrived from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and was met at the airport by Greek charge d'affaires Dionyssios Kogellas. She said she has no meetings scheduled but will be in contact with the Syrian Foreign Ministry to set up appointments.

The release of Father Lawrence M. Jenco by Muslim terrorists could signal a new danger to the three remaining American hostages held in Lebanon, the son of hostage David P. Jacobsen said Monday. "It really adds to the urgency of this," Eric Jacobsen, 30, said at a press conference in Huntington Beach. "We have my father saying (on videotape) that this is the very last gesture of good will the captors will make."

Former hostages and relatives and friends of hostages still in Beirut reacted Monday with numbed anger to the fact that the Bush Administration, like its two predecessors, seems trapped in a hopeless dilemma: Inaction consigns hostages to continued imprisonment, while action dooms them. A number of them also blamed Israel for precipitating the current crisis. A pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim faction said Monday that it had executed Marine Lt. Col. William R.

Lawrence Martin Jenco, a former hostage in Lebanon, wrote a letter to a cherished friend last week that he knows will not be delivered. It was written to Terry A. Anderson to observe an ugly anniversary. Two years ago today, Anderson, Associated Press Middle East chief correspondent, was kidnaped by armed men who pushed him into a green Mercedes-Benz that disappeared down a Beirut street.

A Beirut newspaper said today the shadowy terrorist organization Islamic Jihad (Holy War) had served notice it would soon release one of its five kidnaped American hostages, Father Lawrence M. Jenco, "because of his deteriorating health." The independent daily An Nahar said the group linked to Iran declared its intention to free Jenco, 51, of Joliet, Ill., in a typewritten statement delivered to the newspaper office in Muslim West Beirut shortly after midnight.

A former U.S. hostage urged the United States on Thursday to consider releasing Iranian assets in exchange for the release of the nine Americans held captive in Lebanon. "It can be done aboveboard. It can be done legally and openly, and the Americans, I think, would approve of that," said Father Lawrence M. Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest who was held in Lebanon from January, 1985, to June, 1986. Jenco, interviewed from Portland, Ore.